Backyard Tent and Summer Shorts

I made some more shorts. This time I wised up and used Dana’s printable pattern. Much better! The pattern I made myself was alright, but just not quite how I wanted it. I spent a lot of time tweaking when I just wanted to get to sewing finished products I was completely happy with. So I decided to take advantage of the work that Dana has already graciously done for us. It was a total duh moment for me. :) Pattern found here at MADE.

Ashley from Make It and Love It, also recently posted a shorts tutorial with pockets. So I decided to blend the pattern and tutorial together. I love how this pocket makes the shorts look so professional.

I used old pants so I didn’t have enough to make pockets for Owen’s navy blue shorts, but I did for the shorts I made out of an old men’s shirt…and for Reid’s shorts.

Oh! I need to shorten the pocket length…sigh…always tweaking. :)

I decided to set up a fun little photo shoot for the boys so they could show off their new shorts.

I made a clothes-line tent.

Then made them some newspaper hats, and taped up a paper tube telescope…bugle…laser gun. :) It’s purpose kept morphing into something new every few minutes.

If you don’t know how to make a newspaper hat. It’s pretty easy:

It’s a great kid project too. Getting Owen to come help just wasn’t on his to do list that day though. :)

The black residue that comes off the newspapers was so incredibly irritating to me, that I made new hats out of this smoothly printed publication my husband gets but doesn’t really read. SO much better.

The boys really had so much fun.

But me? To be honest, did not. I was fretting the whole time they bounced around the yard having a blast. I was bummed that they eventually pulled too hard on the tent and brought it down. I even scolded them for it. Then…as I was editing the pictures. I realized. They were just being kids…and I was just getting in their way.

I think I do that too often…get in their way…when I should laugh more, let things go more, allow more mistakes to happen without a reprimand at every turn – and maybe instead a hug. I want to bask in the lovely laughter of my kids more.

Appreciate the perfection in their imperfection.

They are beautiful and I am so lucky to be their mom.

Doing things like making them clothes, clothes line tents, and paper hats are fun if I let them be…for me too.

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Comments

I struggle with that too — not getting in my kids' way. I get way too uptight about stuff that doesn't matter. And I realized a few days ago that I don't even really know how to play with them. Once in a while I'll get a really great idea, like when we had Pirate Day and we made treasure chests and eye patches and all kinds of stuff and played

Your boys are beautiful because they have a beautiful mother!! I really loved your skirt you wore to church yesterday…also bergen kept talking about reid on the way home from church and I think he is too cute, we may need to arrange a marriage! :)

i love this delia, not just because the shorts are too darn cute, but because I completely feel the same way. I found myself doing the same thing with my girls today, and I stopped, kids have to be kids! :)

must be the time of year, long days of summer I've been thinking a lot about letting the kids be kids lately. I read something that talked about not always intervening or scolding them, let them get that energy out and BE KIDS. Always love your posts, I have two little boys too :)

Fantastic post. First – you did a fabulous job on the shorts! Second – what a great reminder on enjoying our kids even when it's not all perfect all the time. It's easy to get hung up on the stuff that doesn't matter.

I'm not a mom, but I love making clothes for my nieces/nephew, and often feel the same way too. It's a bit of the whole "oh, I spent so much time making this for you, you better like it" and "please, just stand still so I can get pictures!" I know the feeling too well. But, the tradeoff is when they really love the things you made them and the joy we get from that.

Thanks for the reminder. I, too, sometimes get caught up in the perfectionism instead of letting my little one do what he does best and just be a kid. I want that for him. I want him to be a kid for as long as he can so I need to learn and be reminded often to just let the things that don't matter be.

Great post Delia. I think you are speaking to every mother out there. Too often we get in our kids' way and our own way! If we are too busy fretting, we ourselves aren't having a good time. Last week, we went swimming with friends. It was a total bummer, because the mom and grandma literally took turns screamed at the kids for EVERYTHING. It was a bummer of a day, but taught me a

So true with the reprimand mom thing. I struggled with that for many years and slowly just in this last year, I have learned to laugh and let go a little. My kids are happier and I am a better mom because of it. Keep laughing because all too soon, our kids are going to grow up and their silly antics might not be around so much anymore.

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